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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24980440">Murphy's Law</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireworkArcanist/pseuds/FireworkArcanist'>FireworkArcanist</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Take Your Son To Work Day AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dad Benrey, Everyone &amp; Joshua Freeman, Final Boss Gordon, Gen, Good Dad Gordon, Not A Game AU, Some Amount Of Child Death, Takes the fanon of the science team are Weird Uncles, and Benrey is suprisingly good with kids, and just fucking sprints with it, but much more in line with canon tone, not too light because theres a 6 year old loose in the resonance cascade, this 6 year old has 5 dads and that's fine, will try and give this one a much lighter tone than my other work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:42:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24980440</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireworkArcanist/pseuds/FireworkArcanist</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In his life, Gordon Freeman has made 3 mistakes. They are as follows. </p><p>1. Go to MIT for theoretical physics and get up to his eyeballs in student debt<br/>2. Accept a job offer from Black Mesa</p><p>And, worst of all,</p><p>3. Take his son into Black Mesa for its annual Take Your Son To Work Day</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Benrey &amp; Joshua Freeman, Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Take Your Son To Work Day AU [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805095</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>142</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 1 - the father said to his son</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liliflower137/gifts">Liliflower137</a>.</li>



    </ul><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Starts extremely fluffy. The rest of this is gonna be a mixed bag y'all, so keep that in mind. </p><p>Titles of chapters are based on Rhodz ft. Benzine - Kids (DGTO Remix) on account of how I'm not writing another poem for this when I'm not sure how long it will be.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joshua wakes up to his dad gently shaking him by the shoulder. It's still dark in his bedroom, no light coming in through the window, but the light from the hall illuminates his dad's face enough to catch the half-smile on his face. </p><p>"Hey, Joshie. You ready for your big day at my work today?" Right!  It was Take Your Son To Work Day at Black Mesa today. Gordon hadn't really wanted to take him, but one of his classmates- Tracy- had told him about it, and he had managed to wheedle Gordon into letting him come, if he promised to behave while he was there.. It was on a Sunday, too, so he wouldn't even be missing any school. (Well, Joshua would always be happy about missing school, but Gordon wouldn't be.)</p><p>Joshua gives his dad a big grin. "Yeah!" and Gordon can't help but direct another fond smile his way- he loves his son- before slipping out of the room to make breakfast, flipping the lights on as he does. It was early, but Black Mesa expected its employees to arrive before 6am, and getting there was what the kids called "something of a drive."</p><p>Joshua slips out of bed and gets dressed- a little coat because Black Mesa was apparently pretty cold, and one of his ten million cowboy-themed t-shirts. (This one in particular was a present from his dad- it was a simple white t-shirt that said "Little Cowboy" in brown letters, the text adorned with small symbols of cowboy-dom, like a sheriff's star and a cowboy boot. It was Joshua's favorite shirt.)</p><p>Properly dressed, Joshua grabs a bag he packed for the day- it has a couple of books on cowboys, some snacks, and his Nintendo DS, (The only game on it was Nintendogs, but that was fine. In his opinion, it was objectively the perfect game. No other games were needed. His dad played something called "Kane and Lynch 2 sometimes, but he barely paid attention- if it wasn't Nintendogs, it wasn't good.) and leaves the room for the kitchen. </p><p>The smell of cooking pancakes is already wafting through the house when Joshua steps into the room. Gordon is at the stove with a spatula, waiting for the right time to flip the pancakes, but he spares the seconds to give Joshua a small wave. "Hey, kiddo! You set the table, okay? I'll be right with you when the pancakes are done."</p><p>The plates are in a lower cabinet, right at the height where both Joshua and Gordon can reach them easily, and Joshua puts the plates and forks out on the little breakfast table in their kitchen before climbing onto a chair, swinging his legs and watching his dad cook silently. </p><p>Pancakes don't take that long to cook for two people, and it's not long before Gordon is setting the pancakes (And some maple syrup and butter, of course. The man isn't a savage.) on the table, and they both take a couple. </p><p>Gordon and his son eat breakfast in comfortable silence before their meal is finished. Once they're done, Gordon puls the plates in the sink and scoops Joshua up into his arms. "You ready to go, Joshie?"</p><p>"Mhm!" Joshua gives his dad another big grin- he's excited to see where his dad spends all his time. Maybe he'll even see some of his classmates there. That would be pretty cool! Or maybe he'd get to meet one of the cool scientists. Maybe they were making a horse that could fit in an apartment. Then Gordon would finally have to let him get one. </p><p>"Alright kiddo, let's go." Gordon puts Joshua down, but takes his son's hand and leads him to the car, Joshua bucking himself in behind him. The man starts the car and turns onto the road, flicking on the radio to soft classical music as he does. </p><p>Joshua stares out the window and watches the houses turn into desert, excitement bubbling within him. </p><p>Eventually, Gordon arrives at Black Mesa- he passes a few checkpoints, and presents his ID card to the guards at the gates, who let him in. The parking lot is packed already, it takes a moment for Gordon to find a parking spot, but once he does, Joshua unbuckles and follows him out of the lot, careful to look both ways and on the alert for cars. </p><p>The pair enter a building with a little tram- the seats are halfway full, but there's plenty of seats, and Joshua sits down on a bench with Gordon, leaning his head against him. The team car is full of quiet chatter and the gentle rumble of moving machinery, and his dad is holding him gently. Joshua tries to keep his eyes open to look out the windows, but before he knows it Joshua's eyes are slipping shut- it's not like he's used to getting up so early, after all. </p><p>Joshua dreams a gentle shard of a dream- the feeling of being held by soft hands and sung to- before the tram comes to a stop and his dad is shaking him awake again as the other passengers file out one by one. </p><p>"Come on, kiddo. We don't want to have to ride the train all the way back and here again." Joshua nods, and slips out of the seat, taking Gordon's hand as his dad leads him through the facility in practiced steps, the other scientists dispersing to their respective departments. </p><p>His dad  waves to the security guards as he goes, giving them quick greetings of "Hey!" and "Howdy!" and Joshua tries to match him, giving the guards silent waves as he goes. Most of them greet his dad with a polite smile or nod in return, (Joshua is glad his dad is here. He would definitely get lost in this place without him.) until he gets to a checkpoint door inside the building.</p><p>There, one of the guards steps in front of them, and opens his mouth. "hey. can i see your passport?" Gordon gives the man a death glare, but digs his passport out of pocket. The guard looks it over for a second, before nodding, evidently satisfied, and turning to Joshua with a fanged grin.</p><p>Literally, the man has needle teeth, and Joshua takes a step back. "what about you? you got a passport?" and behind him he can see his dad's eyes narrow. </p><p>"He doesn't- he doesn't fuuuuuu-ding need a passport! It's Take Your Son To Work Day, he's with me! Just let us in!"</p><p>The man glances towards Gordon, giving him a dead look. "wh? you letting in you letting in suspicious characters? pretty cringe. pretty fail. I'm gonna have to follow you now."</p><p>While he's talking, Joshua is staring at the man's mouth and its pointy teeth, waiting for an opportune moment, and then sticks his hand directly into his mouth, shutting Benrey and Gordon up for a moment as Benrey just… blinks in confusion before Joshua pulls his hand out of the man's mouth. "No fighting." He wants to have a fun time today, and he can't have a fun time with his dad if Gordon is going apoplectic over this one guy the whole time. </p><p>Eventually, words are found. "that's cool. i'm still gonna have to follow you tho." Gordon takes Joshua's hand in his and shoves past the guard, headed for the elevator, grumbling and the guard following behind them like lost puppy. </p><p>Gordon shuts the elevator doors in his face, and Joshua finds himself giggling at the absolutely tragic face he makes. Gordon would never admit it, but he as he ruffles Joshua's hair fondly, he's smirking too. </p><p>The elevator arrives and the pair step off it, nigh instantly bumping into a friendly-looking man who gives them a big smile and a wave. "HELLO! My name's Tommy!"</p><p>Joshua gives him a shy wave, hiding behind Gordon's legs a little. "Hello…" His dad ruffles his hair again, then nods to Tommy. "Hey dude, where you headed? The break room?" Tommy gives an affirmative nod, "Yeah!" and they follow him to the break room. </p><p>Gordon buys the three of them sodas- Sunkist brand, because it's Tommy's favorite- and they sit together for a while at the table in there. Tommy is chattering on about something- it seems to be beyblades, but Joshua half-tunes him out, trying  to read the billboards on the wall, to little success. </p><p>Once their sodas are finished, Gordon puts his hand on Joshua's shoulder to get his attention. "Hey, kiddo. Dad's got to help run a test for work. You can either come with me and watch, or you can stay in the break room for a bit." </p><p>It's not even a question. Joshua came here to see what his dad's work was like, not hang out in the break room, even if some of his classmates were probably gonna hide out here later. "I wanna go with!" </p><p>"...If you're sure, Joshie." Gordon doesn't sound entirely sure, but it's fine. Joshua won't break anything, and he can be quiet.  He's nearly seven after all; that's practically grown. Still, Gordon takes Joshua by the hand to a locker room where he talks to a nice man. </p><p>He seems nice, but he seems mostly concerned with talking to his dad, so Joshua explores the break room, and manages to get Gordon's locker open, placing his little backpack there for safekeeping and sitting on one of the benches, swinging his feet until his dad comes out in some form of weird suit. </p><p>He looks weird, but he ruffles Joshua's hair as always. "Hey, kiddo. While I go down to the test, I'm gonna need you to follow Dr. Coomer, okay? He's going to the observation room, so you follow him, and he'll lead you there. I'll pick you up after the test, okay?"<br/>
.<br/>
The scientist- Coomer- pops up behind Joshua and gives him a friendly slap on the back, causing the poor kid to wheeze and stumble forward. "Not to worry, Gordon! Your boy is beautiful! No harm will come to him under my watch!"</p><p>"Hiyah!" Dr. Coomer punches a locker, leaving a large hole in it, probably to demonstrate his fighting prowess. …Or maybe just because he wanted to. It was unclear, but even through the hazard suit helmet was in the way, Joshua had the feeling that Gordon was giving the man a fond smile. </p><p>His dad pats Coomer on the shoulder. "If there's a hair out of place on his head, I am going to end you after the test." </p><p>"You couldn't defeat me in combat if you tried, Dr. Freeman, but the sentiment is noted!" </p><p>Joshua hears his dad chuckle, then turns to step out of the locker room. "See you in the test chamber." </p><p>With his dad gone, Coomer gives Joshua a friendly smile, and gives him another friendly pat that hits with the force of a car crash. "Come on, young man! I'm sure Dr. Freeman will make haste to the test chamber, so we should as well!"</p><p>"Mhm!" Joshua nods at Dr. Coomer. This man was weird, but he was nice, and he liked the scientist already. He almost reaches out to take the man's hand, like he did whenever his dad was leading him somewhere, before his arm falters and falls to his side. </p><p>Coomer doesn't seem to notice. "Onwards, my good lad! By my estimation, we have only five minutes of walking to reach the observation room!" </p><p>He sets off for the observation lab at a good clip, and Joshua struggles somewhat to keep up at a normal walking pace. None of the other scientists turn to look at him, but there was going to be a lot of kids here today, so that made sense. </p><p>They arrive to the observation room rather quickly. Tommy is already there, as is another scientist that Joshua doesn't recognize, although Coomer absolutely does, as he pulls the lanky, sharp-looking man into what looks like a bone-crushing hug. "Professor Bubby!"</p><p>"Doctor!" </p><p>"Professor!" </p><p>Tommy is covering his mouth to avoid laughing, so Joshua figures this is something of a long-running argument, before the man's gaze wanders to Joshua. "Oh! H-Hello again! I put up a chair for you in the corner, so you can watch Mr. Freeman do the test without getting underfoot!"</p><p>Tommy pats a dingy plastic folding chair in the corner near the door.  It looks like it could break at any moment, obviously having been drug out of the back of some broom closet somewhere, but Joshua appreciates the thought, sitting on it and fidgeting with his sleeve slightly. "...Thank you." </p><p>"You're welcome-" Tommy is cut off by the sound of doors opening in the test chamber below, as are Bubby and Coomer, all three of them crowding around the single mic installed in the test chamber. </p><p>Joshua can see his dad and the test chamber through the window. It looks like he's down there with… the guard from earlier? And that Tommy knows him. </p><p>His dad is obviously furious with the situation, loudly complaining that there's going to be a death in the workplace ("Acceptable losses, Dr. Freeman!") and that the guard is fu-messing up this whole experiment, which causes Joshua to bite his lip in sudden worry- what if something really did go wrong with the test?</p><p>His dad's coworkers are giving him instructions that slip from Joshua's head like water off a duck's back as he focuses on his dad and the smoking machinery, a pit of worry growing in his stomach.</p><p>It would be fine, right? Black Mesa knew what they were doing, right? </p><p>His dad pushes a cart into the thing at the center of the room, and he is screaming, and then Professor Bubby is screaming and the test chamber is blinding green and the facility rocks with the force of an explosion, pieces of shrapnel going everywhere, including through the broken shards of the observation window- one grazes by Joshua, slicing a long gash on his face, but the boy barely notices the pain. </p><p>Joshua is on his feet and running out of the room in an instant, (His dad had signed him up for soccer last year, and he had loved it since. Isn't it funny, the little coincidences of the universe?) before Tommy or Coomer can even think to try and stop him. </p><p>"DAD!"</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you to Liliflower137 for this, as always, and I hope you guys enjoyed this!</p><p>To be upfront with you, the happy ending won't be in this fic either, though it'll get us significantly closer to there, but I promise you that at the end of this series, everyone (Yes, everyone!) will be both happy and living on earth, though I won't tell you how we get there.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 2- this life's been made for you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It wasn't supposed to be like this. Benrey knows many things (mostly about video games, not humans) and he was pretty certain that up and vanishing into thin air was not a thing humans did. </p>
<p>So where the fuck was Gordon Freeman?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't supposed to be like this. </p>
<p>All Benrey had wanted was to harass the prettyboy scientist with the weird kid, follow him about, maybe get him to angrily make out in a broom closet or something, maybe share PSN codes, and now he was noclipped into a giant… boulder-thing while Black Mesa rocked with explosions. </p>
<p>This was bullshit. </p>
<p>Well, might as well make the best of it. Maybe he could still get that guy to kiss him. </p>
<p>Once the explosions die down, Benrey removes himself from the massive concrete chunk, and looks around the chamber. Gordon couldn't have left yet, right? Or at least he couldn't have gotten far. </p>
<p>Benrey makes a stupid nickname on the spot. "hey, feetman. you taking a nap? cringe baby taking a nap on the job?" His voice echoes in the empty chamber, and Benrey hums a note of gray-to-blue Sweet Voice. </p>
<p>Hm. Gordon has to be fine. Benrey barely paid attention to the technology Black Mesa was developing, but he was pretty certain that the metal suit thing Gordon had been wearing was supposed to protect him from things like this, so he had to be fine. </p>
<p>Still, he checks underneath all the blocks of concrete for an unconscious man, and finds none, so Gordon must have gone on ahead, or something. </p>
<p>Benrey sticks his hands in his pockets, and steps into the hallway, finding… a lot of blood. It doesn't bother him, though- it didn't lead from the test chamber, so it couldn't be Gordon's, so there was nothing to worry about. </p>
<p>What did worry him is that the dead body at the end of the trail of blood had a headcrab attatched to it, and those weren't supposed to be here- these creatures were native to Xen, so they didn't have any of the proper identification. They definitely didn't have their passports with them. </p>
<p>"you shouldn't be in here." He takes out his Passport and shoots one, before continuing down the hallway, shooting all the headcrabs he sees a scientist. Despite the fact that he appeared to be the exact same guy who jumped into the chamber, and he was pretty sure that guy had died, this one appeared to be very alive. </p>
<p>He glares at Benrey. "Are you the motherfucker that fucked up this whole experiment?" </p>
<p>"nah. pretty sure that was feetman." </p>
<p>The man's glare does not fade. "I think YOU fucked it up!" </p>
<p>Benrey gives him a blank expression. "you seen feetman anywhere?" The man blinks, then shrugs indifferently.</p>
<p>"I haven't seen anyone alive down here but me. I came down here to try and stop things but shit went wrong." </p>
<p>A few more bubbles of blue and gray Sweet Voice come bubbling out of Benrey's lips before he can stop them. Damn, Gordon must move fast. That was… pretty hot, and if Benrey wasn't attracted to him before (he was) the idea of making out with him in a broom closet was even more appealing than before. </p>
<p>Gotta catch up. Can't antagonize Gordon if he's not there, after all, so Benrey starts down the hall again, backtracking the way they had come in. With every room they went through where they didn't see Gordon, Benrey got more impressed (worried) and determined to find him.</p>
<p>They picked up Tommy along the way. He hadn't seen Gordon either, and if gray-to-blue sweet voice bubbles make their way out of his mouth at that, Tommy knows him well enough not to mention it. </p>
<p>Bubby and Tommy are talking as they walk, but Benrey barely notices, tuning them out and just putting one foot in front of the other and occasionally shooting a headcrab in a sort of mindless rhythm. </p>
<p>This would be much more fun if Gordon was here to rile up… where the hell was he, anyway? This had started to turn from impressive to worrying (it had long since turned from worrying to a kind of gnawing fear) and it's when they locate Dr. Coomer in the observation room and he hasn't seen Gordon since the test that Tommy pulls him aside while Bubby (He and Coomer had greeted each other, so their names were known now.) and Coomer cleared the way a bit. </p>
<p>Benrey leans against a wall, and Tommy takes a deep breath. "Benrey, I don't think Dr. Freeman made it out." </p>
<p>"wuh? huh?" Benrey pretends he doesn't hear Tommy, but his sweet voice betrays him again (It's been doing that a lot today, huh?) and sings out some indigo to dark red, and Tommy fidgets with his sleeves. </p>
<p>"I-I don't want him to be dead either! But theres no way out other than by Coomer, and- and he didn't see him. There's just- there's no way he's made it out."</p>
<p>Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. </p>
<p>"pretty cringe of him, dying like that." Benrey does not blame himself. (Benrey blames himself. </p>
<p>"...what about his fail son? he okay?" What was his name? Joshua? Fuck. This wasn't supposed to happen like this. </p>
<p>Tommy grimaces. "H-he ran out of the room before anyone could stop him, so we're not really sure." </p>
<p>Absolutely nothing about this day had gone to plan, huh?  "c'mon, tommy. let's go find feetman's fail son." </p>
<p>Without waiting for an answer and walking straight through the green laser, Benrey sets off after Coomer and Bubby, Tommy following behind. </p>
<p>They navigate through the halls and up to the break room, stopping to raid the vending machines and for Coomer to just eat the entire microwave ("Benrey, I'm full!") </p>
<p>They arrive at the break room, and Bubby promptly blows up all the scientists huddled there with a grenade, causing chunks of meat to spray everywhere. He lets out a harsh laugh, which is cut off by a little frightened noise and then a sob from one of the lockers- Gordon's. (Benrey does not feel any guilt at the name. Absolutely not.)</p>
<p>That's a kid. Maybe even the kid they're looking for, so Benrey taps Coomer on the shoulder and points to the locker. "yo, i think someone's in there." </p>
<p>Not even waiting to be told what to do, Coomer instantly punches a gaping hole in the locker. (Benrey can see another such hole in the corner of his eye. Evidently Coomer makes this a habit.) The kid in the locker let's out a short cry of fear again, and Coomer looks through the hole. </p>
<p>"Hello, Joshua! We were looking everywhere for you. I do hope you're okay. We may be in a stressful situation right now, but it's important to stay calm!" </p>
<p>Coomer rips the door off the locker, giving Benrey the opportunity to get a good look at him. Fuck. </p>
<p>The kid was a wreck. Tears were streaming down his face, and he was clutching a little backpack to his chest. It looked like he had been in the process of stuffing his dad's personal items in there- he was holding his passport. </p>
<p>There was also a bleeding gash on his face, so Benrey taps Coomer again to get him to move, then sits down in front of Joshua, blowing some teal Sweet Voice on his face. He didn't have to, but he wanted to. </p>
<p>"hey, calm down. it'll be okay." </p>
<p>Joshua stops crying for a second when he feels the wound on his face heal, and touches it experimentally. It didn't hurt and it wasn't bleeding anymore. He looks at Benrey with wide, curious eyes. "...How'd you do that?" </p>
<p>"that was uh…. a pro gamer move. i can do it because i'm a pro gamer. the rest of the party, they uhhh haven't level grinded enough to unlock that skill."</p>
<p>Both Tommy and Joshua burst into giggles at that statement, and it's not the same as Gordon yelling at him, but it's certainly not bad. Benrey looks at the scientists in the room, then at Joshua, and extends his hand. </p>
<p>"wanna join my party? we're gonna look for your dad, find a way to get home, and level grind the rest of these losers so they're not weak little scrubs-"</p>
<p>"Hey!" </p>
<p>"Security Chief Boper, I have studied over four thousand martial arts, and could snap your fragile spine in half like a toothpick if I so desired."</p>
<p>Benrey ignores them. "whaddya say? wanna join us?" </p>
<p>Joshua finishes stuffing Gordon's items into his backpack- Benrey notices that Gordon had a picture of himself and his son- and then takes Benrey's hand. "...Okay."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for reading!!! This is the first time I've ever tried to write from Berney's perspective, so I probably fucked it up, but I had fun, so!!</p>
<p>Benrey's pretty domesticated in this AU because the... everything forces him to be a little bit more down to earth, so that helps.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 3 - do all you can do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Science Team are... the science team, and Joshua is 6 years old.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Joshua stares up at the strange man and his outstretched hand. He had been the one harassing his dad in there, but- but he had made his cut better, Dr. Coomer and Tommy trusted this guy, and they were nice and he knew they wouldn't hurt his dad. And this guy said they were going to look for him, so- </p><p>Joshua reaches out and takes Benrey's hand. The man offers him a sharp toothed grin, and then sings a short tune, causing some funny bubbles to appear. He'a pretty certain it's an imitation of party member added sounds in RPGs, and Joshua ends up giggling. </p><p>"good choice, uh…" Benrey seems to be struggling with remembering Joshua's name, or if he was ever given it in the first place. </p><p>"Joshua!" That is his name, after all."</p><p>"sweet name. cringe dad had one not-fail skill and that was naming his uh, epic gamer kid. benrey, btw." </p><p>Joshua narrows his eyes at Benrey, but before he can object to his dad being called cringe, Coomer gives him another pat on the back. "Well, gentlemen, now that we've located Dr. Freeman's son, I would say it's best we make haste through the facility! We may be in a dangerous situation, but it's important to remain calm!"</p><p>Bubby grumbles from the corner, spinning his revolver. "Let's just get the hell out of here already!"</p><p>"W-we really should get going. Maybe there are less creatures up ahead?" Tommy didn't sound particularly sure of that being the case, but- Joshua did want to help look for his dad, so he nods. "Mhm!"</p><p>With that, Benrey leans over and picks Joshua up, positioning him for a piggyback ride. "no escort quests. adding u to the inventory, bro. you're too underleveled to fight any monsters, gotta get your xp by helping us pass perception checks."</p><p>Joshua laughs again and then clings onto Benrey like a barnacle- he had always loved being carried. It made him feel safe, and now was no different.</p><p>As Benrey and the others walk, Joshua keeps an eye out for any of the "creatures" Tommy had mentioned-  they sounded dangerous (He had heard the screaming down the halls. It was not a sound any child should hear.) </p><p>Eventually, Joshua did see movement up ahead, and tapped Benrey, pointing up ahead to the source of it. </p><p>Benrey looks, and then pulls out his Passport. "yo, we got company up ahead." The rest of the Science Team ready their weapons as well, and then continue on their path until they're closer and it's just… a security guard. </p><p>The man is badly wounded- his blood coats the floor, and he looks at the Science Team with half-lidded, dull eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, and the Science Team look at each other. </p><p>Joshua looks at the man with dinner-plate eyes. He doesn't know him, but that doesn't matter- that man is hurt, he needs medical help, he needs a hospital. (There is no help, and there is no hospital.) Tears gather at the corner of his eyes. </p><p>How do you explain to a child that some people can't be saved? </p><p>Benrey and Tommy share a glance, and Tommy steps to the side, and puts a hand on Joshua's shoulder, drawing his attention away from the man bleeding out on the floor, and opens his mouth-</p><p>Bubby makes the decision for them, and a gunshot rings out, harsh and echoing in the empty halls. The tears at the edge of Joshua's vision turn into a scream and a sob, the kid burying his face in Benrey's shoulder and trembling. (He doesn't want to look. He will not look, and that noise was too loud and-)</p><p>"We coulda-" Joshua's voice does on his lips as he lets out another sob. </p><p>"Hmph. Would you prefer he die to the headcrabs? That man was in no state to move. The gunshot was quicker."</p><p>"Now, Professor, be reasonable! The boy's only six, it's perfectly natural to be upset." A pause. "Don't worry, my boy! Dying is perfectly natural. All part of the cycle of life!" </p><p>Benrey ignores them, and sits down on the ground, pulling Tommy down with him and Joshua into his lap, and blowing a few bubbles of bright blue sweet voice at Joshua. "hey. calm down. it's okay."</p><p>Tommy gives Joshua gentle pats on the head, as well, and that combined with the sweet voice cause Joshua's sobs to slow and stop, though tears still drip from his eyes. </p><p>Once the sobs stop, Tommy digs through his lab coat pockets, briefly pulling out an orange fidget cube, a ziploc bag with some clay in it, for some reason, and a box of tic tacs, which are swiftly put away, before finally producing a handkerchief with a golden retriever embroidered onto it. He then reaches out and dabs Joshua's cheek with it. </p><p>"It-it's terrible, but it had to happen. That man was- really hurt, and- none of us know any medicine, so- he was doomed, and this way it- hurts less. Okay?"</p><p>There's silence like the holding of a breath before Joshua says, "...Okay." He doesn't like it, at all, but- his dad trusted these men, so. He should too, right? </p><p>Tommy gives a relieved smile, and Benrey leans forward a little bit to rest his chin on Joshua’s head. “”it uh, sucks, it’s mad cringe. this game is, multiplayer tho, so we all- we all got each other’s backs, n’ we’ll like- rez you, we got the perfect team comp for this run.”</p><p>“Y-yeah! We’re better than- than a herd of elephants. :)” </p><p>Joshua giggles, before a pebble-sized piece of rubble gets tossed into the wall nearby to Benrey’s head, where it shatters. Bubby is there, glaring at them. “Can you all shut the hell up so we can get moving already? I need to perfect my run, and I’d rather not become alien food.”</p><p>...If they got going, maybe they’d find his dad faster. Tommy seems to have the same idea, and puts his handkerchief back into his pocket, standing up and offering Benrey his hand to pull him up. </p><p>“laaaaaaame. you don’t believe in uh… kissing the homies goodnight. can’t- can’t feel love. not a single- no heart. heartless.” Nonetheless, Benrey repositions Joshua back onto his back again- child backpack mode, activate- and takes Tommy’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled up. </p><p>“see? see? tommy knows about bein bros. tommy knows about- bromance.” </p><p>Benrey sees Tommy failing to hide a smile, and Bubby grimaces, sharp teeth bared.  “I don’t have the time for this bullshit! Just stop being dead weight and get a move on.” Without waiting for a response, Bubby is through the door and his gun is out, looking with eagle eyes for any dangers- to light them on fire, or to shoot them. </p><p>Benrey and Tommy follow him, though Tommy stops to appropriate a gun off of the dead security guard’s corpse- he doesn’t know how to use them, but it seems like a useful thing to have, so he does. </p><p>Joshua tries not to look at the man, or the blood all over. He tries not to think about them. It had to be done, right? It had to. </p><p>The whole thing- all of this- made him sick to his stomach, but he was pretty certain it would be rude to vomit on his dad’s friends.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! On god, I meant to do this sooner, but my browser shit itself for solid DAYS, and I couldn't work on the fic. It was honestly infuriating, but it's fixed now, so!! New chapter!! Hell yeah! </p><p>As always, ten thousand thanks to Liliflower137- not only did she help with this one, she also stayed on my ass so I didn't get pissed and give up on this particular scene and hit my rule of "at least 1000 words per chapter", too. Hope it was worth the wait! Will attempt to keep up on the daily update schedule again, so fingers crossed!</p>
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